Utica University’s Campus Program Board hosted an event called Feet Heat on Sept. 27, 2022. The event ran from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Strebel Lounge. 

The goal of the Feet Heat event was for students at Utica to learn how to properly clean their sneakers and how to keep their shoes in good condition. The event also included a display of sneakers to look at and/or purchase.

Raymond Lyles, CEO of Dr. Crisp, a sneaker repair shop located in downstate New York in Mount Vernon, spoke on his innovation of helping people recover the freshness of their sneakers and gave advice for when people are cleaning sneakers.

“The motivation came from loving sneakers,” Lyles said. “I am a Yeezy fan, I have every pair of Yeezys, spending $400-500 on them the idea is to restore sneakers. Keeping our sneakers clean, it’s like a legacy. Some advice I have for the students is to look at the solution and do your research before using a cleaning product on your sneakers especially suede, not every product is made for leather and suede.”

Lyles has two years of experience working to repair shoes with his business. He has sneakers and shoes shipped to him from people in areas such as California and Brooklyn.

Feet Heat was the first time that Lyles cleaned sneakers at a university or college in front of the students in an organized event. He expressed gratitude for the students and Utica University.

Feet Heat also showcased a local sneaker shop called Sole Solution Sneaker Store. The store is located in the Big Apple Music Plaza across from the store, with Big Apple at the lower end of the plaza, at 8469 Seneca Turnpike, New Hartford.

Jacob Sherline, employee of Sole Solution, talked about getting into the sneaker business and his love for sneakers.

“I have been collecting sneakers for a long time, it has always been a passion of mine, I realized there was an opportunity to start a business so I decided to open a sneaker store and bring something to the Utica community,” Sherline said. “Since I was little, growing up loving sneakers,  I didn’t always have the money to get sneakers but as I grew older I started selling sneakers and started getting sneakers that I wanted.”

The sneakers displayed at the event can be found at the shop. Sole Solution has sneakers coming in from different areas in the United States and goes to sneaker events to obtain more sneakers to sell at a market value. 

Students at the Feet Heat event purchased different sneakers from Sole Solution and others got their sneakers cleaned for free. In some cases, students were trying to sell their own sneakers to Jacob Sherline for Sole Solution.

Vasyl Yurkuts, a student studying abroad from Ukraine, talked about his experience at the Feet Heat event.

“The Feet Heat was laid-back and a useful event for students and campus as a whole. It was a nice atmosphere to be a part of, a great social experience for us,” Yurkuts said. “Being from Ukraine, I haven’t been a part of an event like Feet Heat, getting my sneakers cleaned by Dr. Crisp for free was so cool, he [Lyles] did a great job”.

For more information about Dr. Crisp, find them on Instagram @drcrispnyc. Students can check out their website DrCrispNYC.com, or contact [email protected] with any questions.

For more information about Sole Solution Sneaker Store, find them on Instagram @solesolutionshop and snapchat @solesolution. Their contact number is 315-580-0433 with any questions.